Thanks. I was wondering if the new Soundbugs were an improvement over the old ones. I guess they are. How good is the power pickup from a pair of those trucks?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Big improvement int he sound quality too, 16 bit resolution vs the old 8 bit, and the new ones can play more simultaneous sounds - all the old 8 bit Digitrax sound decoders were limited to 3 simultaneous sounds.
If you install any alternate sound projects, makes sure they are 16 bit ones AND they are the newer ones done by John McMaster. He's been building tons of sound projects with proper 16 bit sound samples and lots of nifty features to take advantage of the increased capabilities of the new decoders.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
The original unit comes with 7 sets of sounds, selectable by setting a CV. When you download a sound project into the decoder, does it replace all of those 7, or can you keep 6 of them and just replace 1?
If the key to the sound is the 4 speakers, then one would need more space than is available in a locomotive. I have trouble finding room for 1 speaker in most engines, and even that requires removing some interior weight, thus reducing the number of cars the engine can pull.
This is also something for the budget-minded modeler to look at. It just takes a single CV to change the car from diesel to steam, so it could be shared by many different engines.
Personally, I prefer my sound in the locomotive, but this does provide another option.
Same thing with pretty much EVERY steam loco where the sound is in the tender...
So you have chuffs coming from the boiler AND the tender? I guess if there is a tender booster..
There are flaws in ALL plans. They are models, there is ALWAYS compromise. What speaker fits in the boiler of a properly scaled HO early 4-4-0? An earbud driver? A great idea to get the sound where it should be, but it's not going to be practical on every loco. Now, something O scale or larger, there's no excuse for the sounds to come from the tender only.
I am still trying to figure out how they got to be called "iphone speakers" I've had iPhones since the 3G. I've never taken minee apart, but there are nice web sites that buy a brand new phone and immediately break it apart to show you the insides, and most of those speaker they are calling "iPhone speakers" aren't. OK, probbaly some other smartphone or tablet.
ANyway, they are long and narrow, awesome if there is no boiler weight, or for long narrow diesels like Alcos. Got plenty of places to put them. Still not small enough - even those sugar cube speakers from CT are too big for a properly scaled 1880's 4-4-0. Ones like the AHM Reno and Inyo are much too big relative to the actual prototypes, as are others like the Mantua General. Remove a chunk of boiler weight from those, and I can see those speakers fitting in there. Traction tires are almost a must though, since most of those smaller locos are tender drive and the boiler weight is all there is for traction. Perhaps on a smaller one if you totally removed the weight, but then it may not be able to pull itself around, let along 3-4 cars. Small boiler geared locos cheat - those sugar cubes fit nicely in the coal/wood/oil bunkers.
I'd love to see some of these installs, in smaller steam, to see what I'm missing. I can;t see any other kind of speaker working - the phone and sugar cubes have a decent frequency response, some genric micro-speaker likely will be all highs and no lows, making for pretty poor chuffs - however, the low frequency sounds are far less directional than high frequency, which is in part why tender mount works until you put your head right up to the loco.
I like this "soundcar" thing, for what ever it's worth. I have enough fumbling around installing decoders, and ditch lights, etc., and making everything fit, and I've never tried a sound decoder, so this looks a perfect project for me.
Mike.
My You Tube
Son of a... it never posted my last message. Well, I'm not typing all that again!
Not being hostile, just saying, it's all a compromise no matter what you do. Definitely a neat idea, worth doing whenever there is room, so at least some of the sound comes out of the right place.
I said a bunch more, but it's late and I'm not thinking up and typing all that again.
Cisco Kid:
I think it is an interesting project. I would love to hear it 'in person' as it were. If my assumptions are correct there would be a lot of depth to the sound. In other words, no (or much less) tinniness.
I have recently become a devotee of the so called 'Iphone' or 'sugar cube' speakers. (Thanks to David Bedard for introducing me to the concept.) The quality of sound is quite good in comparison to other small speakers IMO, but they still don't quite give the 'rumble' associated with a 1:1 locomotive.
Maybe I will have to put this on my project list.
If I can comment on the tone that some of the posts in this thread have taken on, sometimes there is a tendancy to read too much into another person's wording. We should try to not over react.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
FWIW, I sent Cisco Kid a PM asking him to reconsider withdrawing his posts from the thread. I also suggested that he post the details of his project on the new thread about the future of sound in the hobby:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/242487.aspx
I have to say that I am really disappointed by the tone of a few of the posts on this thread.
I like this idea. I'm going to do this is in a non-powered "dummy" loco